Howling at the moon
by Jarx
Summary: With Kotaro kidnapped by his brother, can his friends rescue him from the dog-demons? And as they are in the demonic realm, what dangers and allies will they face? Please Read and review
1. Chapter 1

**Note: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima...**

**Howling**** at the ****moon**

**Chapter one**:

_Kotaro __ran__ as __fast as he could when someone kicked in the stomach, making him fly back ten feet._

_Kotaro wiped of the blood from his face has he looked up at a tall man with long black hair __looking sternly at him, growling._

"_You are weak" the man said darkly and walked towards Kotaro "weaklings have no place our tribe" the man grabbed his head and lifted him up as he dragged him to the edge of the mountain._

"_Good bye, weakling" he said raising him as he prepared to throw._

"_No, please, don't, BROTHER!" Kotaro screamed as he was thrown away to the wild lands known as purgatory._

Kotaro slept on the sofa, images from his mind passed through his inner sight as he rolled uneasy, cold bullets of sweat ran down his face, he shivered from a non-existing cold as a warm hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly, a sweet voice called to him "Kotaro-kun?"

He opened his eyes and a cute girl with short hair and freckles looked worried at him.

"Natsumi?!" he said suddenly and jumped up, the girl jumped back from the sudden movement of Kotaro.

"Did you have nightmare?" Natsumi asked him quietly "you looked so uneasy"

Kotaro looked at her for a while before he got to his tough act "Nightmares? Yeah right!" he said.

Kotaro got up to his feet "I'm going for a walk" he said calmly and walked towards the door.

"B-but" Natsumi stuttered as he opened the door, the boy turned around and smiled at her the widest he could "Hey, no need to worry about me! I'll be back around noon OK?" he said and closed the door and walked away before she could answer, the smile on his face was gone now.

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Mahora campus was always crowded with people on Sundays, but Kotaro wanted to be alone and therefore headed towards the forest.

_Damn!_ He thought for himself, _why did that dream come up? It's not like I need to remember that!_ Right of a sudden he stumbled on a root and fell to the ground.

"Crap!" He swore as pushed himself up "that dream is starting to have an effect on my senses as well!" He slapped himself in the face and continued walking.

After a while he reached a river flowing through the mountains, the sound of the running water made feel a little more at ease and sat down by the river.

He sighed as he dug his face into his knees "brother…" he whispered.

Suddenly two hands grabbed his shoulders "whatcha doin here Kotaro?" the voice of the ninja sounded.

Kotaro didn't turn around to face Kaede as he answered "what do you want, Kaede-neesan?" he tried to hide the trembling in his voice.

Kaede didn't seem to take any notice and said "you want to train, you look like you could use a workout, you know, let it all out" even though Kotaro couldn't see it, he knew she had that smile, saying that everything will be alright.

Kotaro began breathing heavily as he turned around to face her, with tears rolling down his eyes and his fangs showing "Leave me alone!" he yelled as he ran away, Kaede just stood there, not knowing what to say nor do.

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It was late now, and the sun was beginning to set, Kotaro stood on the peak of some mountain, grasping his, feeling it pulsate fast, he ran so fast for no reason at all, what was wrong with?

"I should go back home, Natsumi and Chizu-nee are probably worried" he said quietly as he felt a dark force behind.

He turned around quickly to see who it was and before him stood a gargantuan black hound, with red markings on his legs, it almost looked he was smiling.

"It seems you haven't grown at all Kotaro-chan!" the hound said as he sat himself down.

Kotaro looked stunningly at the large dog as he finally smiled and then went forth to hug the bearlike dog "Inuken! It's been so long!" he said happily.

"6 years is a very long time" Inuken said in affirmation of what Kotaro said.

"And you've grown so big!" Kotaro continued.

"Yes, it seems that way" then he took his right paw and pushed Kotaro back a little "listen, I didn't come here for a chat, I have something important I need to say to you"

Kotaro looked in the dog-demons eyes for a while then looked down on the ground "this has something to do with brother, doesn't it?" he asked.

"Yes" Inuken answered "he's coming here to test you"

Kotaro felt like he got kicked in the stomach and looked at his own friend with wide eyes "w-what?"

"You heard me, your brother has been sent to test your worth" Inuken said calmly.

"B-but w-why?" Kotaro stuttered out as bullets of sweat run down his forehead.

"A war is about to break out between the demon-clans, and everyone is arming themselves with as much power as possible, they free the damned ones, they call those that have shamed the clans, they even hire impure mercenaries, just in order to get more power." Inuken said but continued "that's why Kyobi, lord of the fox branch, has ordered to test the half-breeds, and take in those who are worthy"

"But why doesn't he just let in all of us back instead of doing these tests?" Kotaro asked, this was sounding strange, but he was still trembling at the thought of having to fight his brother again.

Inuken sighed and said "You know how prideful the fox branch is, being the strongest branch among the noble dog families? Do you think they would let their repetition get dirtied because their half-breeds are weak?"

Kotaro looked down, the words _weaklings have no place in our tribe_ came to his head "No, they wouldn't"

Inuken sighed and a portal opened "okay then, you brother will come in two days, should you fail the test, you will be thrown in the deepest pit of purgatory and everyone you have made bonds with shall be executed" he said.

Those words made Kotaro look up at him with his eyes widened "what!?" he screamed in shock.

"That way you will have no one to turn to except the tribe, if you survive" he said and turned to the portal and took some steps in it "Kotaro, I'm really sorry, please don't hate me for doing my job, GOOD LUCK!" he yelled out those two last words and the portal disappeared, left was only Kotaro.

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It was now another Tuesday morning, and the ten-year-old teacher opened the door to his classroom and stepped inside, now obviously there should be a horde of girls attacking him screaming "NEGI-SENSEI!" but today Negi was early and therefore sat by his desk and awaited the arrival of his students.

He went through the study plan and sighed, they were pretty much after the schedule; they would need some sort of miracle to get them catch up, sometimes they weren't fifteen-year-olds, for Christ sake, their teacher was in many ways more mature than them, and that's not a good sign.

Negi sighed once again, _oh well,_ _3A will always be 3A_, he thought as the door opened, in came Murakami Natsumi together with Naba Chizuru and Nagase Kaede, they all greeted each other as Natsumi and Chizuru went forth to talk with their homeroom teacher.

"Umm" Natsumi said nervously and scratched her arm "have you seen Kotaro-kun? He hasn't come home the last two days and we're worried"

Then Kaede came in to the discussion "Oh is that so? Cause Sunday afternoon I found him acting strange, I tried talking to him but he ran away"

Negi looked blankly at the girls while his mind went on fire, the fact that Kotaro had been missing for two days and him having a strange behavior did not look good together, something was happening.

He snapped back to reality, Chizuru and Natsumi had to take back from the sudden movement.

Negi grabbed his staff and went for the door "Call me in sick I'm going to look for Kotaro!"

Kaede wasn't far behind him "I'll go to" and smiled to Natsumi "don't worry, everything will be alright" and disappeared.

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It was closing in to dusk, Kotaro sat on the peak of the mountain edgily, soon he will come, he thought.

As the sun was shining its last beam of light upon the world, two massive energies were behind him.

"Really Kotaro, you made everyone worried" a calm female voice sounded, Kotaro did not turn to face Kaede and stayed silent.

"Kotaro, what is it that you are hiding, and why didn't say something before disappearing?" Negi asked him.

Kotaro stood up, but still didn't turn to face them "Negi, Kaede" he said "It has been fun being with you and training and all that, but" he stopped for a moment, it almost looked like he shivered "this friendship is over, I'm ending it" he said.

"WHAT!?" Negi and Kaede said in shock, this was not something they had expected.

"I would appreciate if you could tell Chizu-nee and Natsumi to forget me, the same to you" he continued.

"Wait, why are you doing something like this, has something happened?" Negi said walking closer to Kotaro.

"Just" there was a moment of doubt "just see this as a precaution" he answered.

"A precaution?" Kaede said "for what?"

At that moment a large portal opened in midair, a few meters away from Kotaro.

"For HIM" he said darkly.

Then a terrible aura showed itself, everything was cold as a tall figure came out of the portal.

"Hello brother" the figure said coldly.

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And now the fun begins...


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima! or its charachters...**

**Chapter two**:

Negi and Kaede looked blankly at the figure that came from the portal "b- brother? Kotaro, is that man your brother?" Negi asked but Kotaro remained silent.

It was when the moon rose that they could see the figure clearly, he was very large, about 7,8 ft tall, his shoulders was covered in black fur, he had mask that looked like the face of a fox made out of red metal, his black was tied back in a long tail that danced in the wind, his eyes, sharp like blades looked sharply at his little brother "Are you ready for your trial?" he asked dully.

Kotaro jumped up and aimed a punch but found his fist caught by his brothers.

His brother looked bored at Kotaros fist and saw that it glowed darkly "I'll take that as a yes" he said slowly, then he raised his left foot, pressed his sole against Kotaros chest and stomped him, making Kotaro crash to the ground.

"Kotaro!" Negi and Kaede screamed after they heard the crash.

Kotaro didn't answer and stood up but fell on to his knees because his body was shaking too much, but he still tried to stand.

Kaede and Negi looked worryingly at Kotaro and then to the dark figure with rage "Why you…!" Negi said and they both went to attack the dark figure if they weren't hindered by two others.

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A large hound, four times the size of Negi, gently pushed two of his large claws on Negis shoulders "Please do not disturb lord Kitakuros fight" he said calmly.

Kaede, found herself with a sharp blade touching her throat, the holder of the blade was a small boy, with long white hair tied back in a ribbon, with a few bangs of his hair covering his right eye, and he wore an old blue coat and soared in the sky.

When Kaede looked at him she found that he was kind of cute if it wasn't for the evil smirk he had on his face "If you wish to fight my employer, you have to fight me first" he whispered in a way that gave Kaede shivers.

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Kotaro turned around and saw the position his (now former) friends were in, he looked at the two figures that hindered Negi and Kaede from moving, "These are…!" he said loudly.

"Mercenaries…" Kitakuro answered, he was very calm about that fact, he then turned to Negi and Kaede "I wouldn't fight with those two, especially Ace" he pointed at the little boy who had a rapier against Kaedes throat "He scares the crap out of me" he finished, the small boy smiled even wider now.

"But enough about that, I didn't come to warn you about those two" he continued "Kotaro, will you continue to fight or will you confess the fact that you are weak?" he taunted in his cold voice.

Kotaro gritted his teethes, bounced up and flied at his brother with both of his fists crackling with power.

Kitakuro sighed, raised his left leg and axe-kicked Kotaro on the head "Ability to control emotions in battle, grade: F" he said coldly.

Kotaro got quickly back on his feet and jumped up once again, this time he was trying to kick him.

"Being stubborn isn't always a good thing to be, brother" and once again axe-kicked him in the head, but this time the kick went straight through him.

"A copy?" he said calmly and sighed "I see"

Kotaro was now behind him, about to land a blow on Kitakuros back "THAT WON'T WORK ON ME!" he yelled, spun around and kicked Kotaro in the stomach; once again the kick went straight through the body.

"What?!" he said "another copy?" he began to look around for more assaulters, beneath him, around him, but there was one place he wouldn't think to look at.

"Look up" he heard and hundreds of Kotaros rained over him, not knowing who was the real one, all he could do was attack them all.

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Negi and Kaede, who silently watched their fight, saw how ten legs emerged from Kitakuros body that kicked all of the copies "Incredible!" was the only thing Kaede would say and then looked at the small boy who still held his blade against her throat 'And he's scared of this one?' she thought with doubt 'just how strong is these guys?'.

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Kitakuro kicked in a speed he wasn't used to, normally he didn't have to, but it still wasn't enough, he couldn't make sure all was copies and just when one of those was about to axe-kick his head the battle cries of the Kotaros got higher 'Oh crap'

A small "Tock!" was heard when the kick landed, and everybody stayed silent, Kitakuro hadn't moved an inch from the blow and Kotaro still had his foot on his big brothers head.

Kitakuro sighed, made sure that his mask of metal was in place and said calmly "Ability to lay out strategies during battle, grade: B, Strength and power of hit, grade: D"

He then took a grip on Kotaros leg and pulled it, making Kotaro hang up side down, he held Kotaros leg high enough so that they were face to face.

"I am impressed that you were able to land a hit on me, and surprised that actually could rely on that pea-brain of yours instead of your meekly strength. But landing a hit means nothing if it doesn't have the power to bring your foe down, let me show you how weak you are" Kitakuro said and threw him to the horizon, he then raised three fingers, "one" he said pulling down the right finger "two" the middle finger was lowered back to the fist "three" he said and disappeared.

Far away there was flash of light and two spots of black came in enormous speed towards Kaede and Negi, they later saw that it was Kotaro and his brother and just when they were over the peak, Kotaros brother smashed Kotaro down to the ground making a large crater.

"KOTARO!" Negi screamed in panic as Kitakuro floated over the large crater.

"YOU HAVE FAILED YOUR TRIAL!" he said loudly, his voice echoed and the ground trembled "as such I am to bring you to the deepest pit of Purgatory, and kill your friends" he said coldly, the earth did no longer tremble at his words but were still as terrible.

"What!?" Kotaro, Negi and Kaede said at the same time, all equally shocked.

Kotaro sat up and slowly got back up on his feet, he was having problem finding balance and leaned slightly forward "No! I have already broken my bonds with them; you have no reason to kill them!" He said in panic.

Kitakuro looked at him in disgust (if it wasn't for the mask you could easily tell, I think) and answered "You may have cut your bonds with them, but they haven't cut their bonds with you! They will only be a hindrance, hindrances must be eliminated!" he said and his fist glowed with power.

He turned to Negi "I am sorry little one, but do not worry, I shall release you from your torment first, that way you won't have to see your other friends get massacred by me"

He then got himself ready to punch the little child and charged at him, he closed his eyes and got himself ready to contact the blow.

A loud CRACK! Was heard and Kitakuro opened his eyes only to see that it was Kotaro who stood before him coughing up blood, grabbed a hold of Kitakuros fist and leaned against it.

"KOTARO!" Negi and Kaede screamed out of fear that the worst possible had happened, however, Kitakuro, who had his brother leaning on his fist, felt a heartbeat.

"You survived…?" Kitakuro said wondrously, _How can that be? _He thought but then saw black energy around the point of impact disappear into thin air.

Kitakuro chuckled, took a vial from his sash and let some drops of its content fall into Kotaros mouth; he quickly regained consciousness but was low on energy and could hardly move.

"Wha-?" he began tiredly but was silenced by Kitakuro who pushed him lightly, making him fall down to the ground.

"I congratulate you for surviving my killer-blow" he said coldly "Using dog-spirits to stop the force of an attack also using dog-spirits, it's something few have thought about but never used in practice, it has made me reconsider" Kitakuro said.

There was a moment of silence, Kotaro did not know what to say, and Negi and Kaede could only makes thing worse, all there was, was hope.

"We shall have to redo the trial" Kitakuro said after a while "You have two days to get stronger, this time I expect more of you" a portal opened and Kitakuro and the two mercenaries disappeared.

As soon as they were gone Negi and Kaede ran towards Kotaro and helped him up "you better have an explanation for this" Negi said.

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"Is that all?" Kaede said after the story Kotaro had told them, it had taken a while, seeing as Kotaro had to tell them everything about his childhood, not the short version.

"Yes" he said quietly, feelings had never been his department.

"Are you okay?" Negi asked him worried, Kotaros body was shaking violently.

Kotaro fell on to his knees and stood on all four "Two more days to get stronger" he said, quoting his brother "what help will that be?" tears ran down his face, he lifted his right arm "Damn" he said quietly and punched the ground "Damn!" he said once again, louder this time and once more punched the ground "Damn! Damn! DAMN!" he screamed and furiously punched the ground, his hand beginning to bleed, his face all covered in sweat and tears, he continued to scream and punch the ground until Kaede took a firm grip around arm till he calmed down and then hugged him, cause right now, words could not help.

**Let us see how much more we can get out of this one...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three:**

Kotaro slowly walked across the hallway to the dorm he lived in, he had told both Negi and Kaede that he was fine and that he could take care of himself, but that was just lies. He wasn't alright, far from it and he had fallen unconscious twice in the same day.

When he reached the door to his dorm, he had to support himself by the wall out of tiredness; he was then going to knock the door but stopped, wondering if someone was awake, which was doubtful, seeing what hour it was, but the didn't have any keys on him and therefore knocked heavily on the door three times.

After awhile, the door opened and Natsumi stood before him "Kotaro?!" she asked surprised "Where have you been? I have been worried about you!" she shouted at him.

Kotaro looked down on the floor "I'm sorry" he said quietly.

"Sorry?! Why didn't you come back? I haven't slept in 3 days because I was so worried!"

Kotaro then took a step forward, wrapped his arms around Natsumi's waist, making her fall to the ground with him "S-sorry" he sobbed.

Natsumi did not know how to respond, all she could was putting her hand on his shoulder and they stayed in their embrace.

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The sun was now beginning to rise, Natsumi noticed, as the shadows was getting taller, "um… Kotaro?" She asked as she carefully shook the now sleeping dog-demon, he was crying in his sleep "brother… no" he repeated woefully again and again.

Natsumi sighed and shook his shoulder harder, making him slowly open his eyes "whu…?" he said slowly as he looked up to the blushing girl he had been sleeping on.

"It's beginning to dawn, we should get up" she said, avoiding to look at him, still blushing.

"Oh…" Kotaro said, also begging to blush and rose, he quickly helped Natsumi up by lending a hand.

"Thanks" she said, still not looking at him "Um… breakfast… would you like some breakfast?" she asked.

Kotaro nodded quietly and they walked to the dining room, Natsumi gave Kotaro a chair while she went to the kitchen, before she went in, she turned around and said "you know… no matter what problem you may have, I know that if you do your best, believe in yourself and your friends, you can overcome anything" and disappeared.

Kotaro looked down on the floor after she said that, he was ashamed for all he had done to her, and her trying to make him feel better only made it worse.

"Women, what do they know?" a light yet at the same time dark voice said playfully, Kotaro looked up and saw the white-haired boy from before, he had Natsumi beside him.

"Natsumi!" Kotaro yelled but she didn't respond.

"It's no use my little pup!" the boy continued "she's under my command!"

Kotaro rose up, showed his teethes and growled.

The boy in the blue coat laughed "Oh, that's rich pup! But to defeat me you must be ten times stronger than your brother!" Kotaro hesitated, stopped growling and now looked at the ground with sadness in his eyes.

"You seek strength" the boy said "strength enough to defeat your brother, one way to gain such strength is to cut all bonds, fight only for yourself, care only for yourself, and never stop until you are the strongest." He now drew his rapier and pressed the blade "I'll help you become stronger!" he said and cut off Natsumis head.

Kotaro saw the head of Natsumi roll under him and look at him blankly, tears filled his eyes and he ran away the fastest he could.

The boy chuckled darkly "that fool, he didn't really listen, I said one way, there is another, and that… I'll take another time" the fake body and head of Natsumi turned into sand and flew back to its source, the eye of despair. "That the boy didn't notice it was an illusion, that was lucky" the boy said and disappeared.

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Kotaro ran as fast as he could, not caring where he went, and even if he did, he had no control, he was running in an inhuman speed while almost blinded by his own tears, any minute and he would….

THUMP!

He was once again lying down, but this time someone lied atop of him instead.

"Ouch Kotaro, you really should be looking where you're running de-gozaru!" the familiar voice of the kunoichi said.

She got herself up and then lifted up Kotaro "are you alright?" she asked, but then backed away when she saw that once again he was crying.

Kotaro took his arms around her hips (he can hardly reach over that) and put his head to her stomach, sobbing "P-please, don't leave me, don't die, I don't want any of you to die" he said weakly as he continued to sob.

Kaede knelt down putting his head on her shoulder, patting his back lightly "Don't worry, I won't" she said.

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Kotaro were once again in the mountain, but this time, Kaede sat beside him.

He had told her everything that had happened, she doubted at first that this had really happened, but seeing that Kotaro didn't want to go back there, and didn't want Kaede to leave him, they had positioned themselves in the mountain, waiting for his brother to show up.

While they sat there, Kotaro had also told her the real past, how he had been thrown out because he was weak, how he had strived and fought for survival in Purgatory, where the lowest of demons lived, those with no honor, who easily sold themselves to whatever human who could bring them forth, how he had worked as slave for humans, he was constantly crying when he told about these things, as he had not gotten over it yet.

After that, there had been a long silence, and suddenly Kaede rose up and began walking away.

"Wh-where are you going?" Kotaro asked in a worried tone, Kaede turned around and smiled "Don't worry, I must just do what nature calls, I'll be back soon" she said and walked away, Kotaro, knowing that it would be wrong to follow her remained on the stone he sat on, thinking to himself.

"Natsumi…" he whispered weakly.

After some Kaede came back, she laid her hand on his shoulder "Are you beginning to feel better?" she asked, Kotaro didn't reply but just sat there.

Kaede sighed "Do you feel ready for the fight with your brother?" she asked, he shook his head, "How can I, with what has happened, I don't want to fight at all, cause fighting means losing, and that means losing all of you, I should just run away and die…" he said weakly.

Kaedes hand now took a grip of his neck "Is that SO!?" Kaedes calm and friendly voice had changed into a grim yet playfull one, the hand lifted him up in the air, Kaede became sand and left was the body of Ace (The white-haired boys name) "It's seems the first lesson didn't get in your head, so I will give you some homework!" He said and threw Kotaro down the mountain.

Ace then flew after him, caught him and pushed him down to the ground "First of all, in a battle like this, there is no giving up, because that's like losing without even trying! To do that means you have no care in the world about them! All you need in order to win is the will and drive, which was the meaning of the consequences of losing! But you had already decided that you would lose out of the fear to your brother! Turn that fear and pain into rage and strength, you have nothing to lose if you give your all, but everything to lose if you give up!" He said and punched him hard in the face "Do you get that!?"

Kotaro coughed up blood and whimpered in pain, but slowly said "Yes".

Ace laughed at his words "I doubt that you've learned your lesson!" he said and continued to chuckle "but I don't give a crap about that, it's you and your friends that'll suffer the consequences if you don't win, and in your current situation you don't stand a chance!" Ace got himself up "Your little friend is tied to a tree not far from here, you should go rescue her before the predators catch her scent" he said and disappeared.

It had taken a while for him to find Kaede and free her, not because she was hidden or anything, but because it took some time for him to even get on his feet's.

He had been climbing all the way up the mountain, until he finaly could free her.

"Are you alright?" Kaede had asked, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Kotaro answered, looking up to the night-sky, the moon over them.

It was silent for a while, then Kotaro looked back into the Kunoichi, "Tomorrow" he said "Before the fight, I need to talk with everybody, Negi and the others".

Kaede nodded "What do you plan to do?" she asked.

Kotaro smiled "I don't know, that's why I need to talk to them"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four:**

It was midday now, and Negi, Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, Nodoka and Ku Fei gathered at the Tasumiya shrine.

"Say, what's the occasion?" Asuna asked in a loud and annoyed voice "Why are we doing here, on our lunch break at that?" she asked once again.

Setsuna sighed "I don't know, but Kaede asked us to come here, and that's a good reason" she answered.

Asuna snorted "Yeah yeah, let's get this over with, I'm hungry!" she said loudly, Negi sweatdropped behind her "You really like food, don't you, Asuna?" he maumbled.

Asuna then turned around, large veins popping out of her temples "HEY I'M A GROWING WOMAN! WHAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH THAT!?" she said as she took a hard grip around Negi's collar and shook him harshly, Konoka failing to stop her.

"I think you should stop and get serious, de gozaru" the calm, familiar voice said, they turned around and saw Kaede together with Kotaro, though he was in slightly rugged and dirty clothes, looking down on the ground.

The aura that Kotaro radiated made them quiet, this was something that made quite uneasy.

After a few, long and embarrassing moments of silence, Kaede pinched Kotaro on the shoulder "Shouldn't you start, de gozaru?"

Kotaro, like he had just woke up, looked around to see everybody standing around him, Asuna tapping her feet in annoyance "oh, right, but before that, Setsuna?" he said in a way of question.

"Uh, yes?" she answered "What is it?" she asked.

Kotaros face was turned to her, and looked directly in her, but his eyes told that what he saw wasn't Setsuna, but something behind her, something that had haunted his mind for a very long time "Do you remember Purgatory?" he mumbled.

Once again a moment of silence ensued, Setsuna giving Kotaro a dull look "Umm… I guess not, never heard of it"

Kotaros didn't really react at that answer, but continued his mumbling "perhaps, you don't know it by that name; maybe you know it as hell… In any way, Purgatory is the lands were the lowest of demons live, and where misfit demon nobles and higher demons are thrown in order to either get back, as a stronger person, or never return, I chose the latter…" he said in a rather sad tone.

Setsuna, not knowing how to respond to his saddened tone and facial expression, suddenly started stuttering "uh, n-n-no, I-I d-don't think I've been to that place, that Pu-Purgatory"

Kotaro then gave her a smile of melancholy, a face they've only seen on Negi before "For that, I envy you, Setsuna" he said, still sadder, failing to find someone who had experienced the same fear, the same pain he had.

Setsuna started to stutter more "uh, n-no…" she started but when Kotaro showed that she didn't need to continue, she stopped, sighing in relief.

"That's not what I really was gathering you for, there's something I want to ask you all…" he said, once again an uneasy silence was there as he sighed and looked around "…Do you trust me?" He asked.

Everyone's eyes, including Kaedes, widened (though Keades eyes just opened slightly, but still) "Wha-?" most of them started but stopped when Kotaro continued.

"This is of outmost importance" he said in a whisper but with a steady voice, looking at the ground for a while, regaining his confidence and going through the plan "do you trust me or not?"

There was silence once again; everybody looked at him, not knowing what to say.

Kotaro turned his head down, making his hands into fists, a small sob was heard "So that's your answers" and started shivering until he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and saw Negi standing in front of him, grinning widely "I trust you, Kotaro, after all, you are my friend!" he said.

Kotaros saddened face lit up a little, and so did the atmosphere around them, everyone smiling.

"I trust you Kota-kun!" Konoka said as she took a grip of Setsunas hand.

The guardian nodded in approval "So do I" she said.

Ku-Fei bowed humbly "I trust you aru!"

Nodoka gave him small thumbs up, not able to say anything.

Asuna snorted "Yeah, I trust you, can we go eat now!?" she said, earning a few laughs from the others.

Kotaro then turned around to Kaede who smiled widely and looked at him with opened eyes "You already know my answer de gozaru!"

"Thank you" he said and then out his own hand on Negis shoulder, a sign of comradeship between them, and then closed in to whisper into his ear "You didn't tell them anything about **that**, did you?" he asked.

Negi shook his head "Nope"

Kotaro let out a sigh of relief "good, its better if they don't" he said and then turned to the others "listen, I have a request that I want you to promise me you will fulfill" he said.

They looked at him wondering but remained silent.

"By midnight I will be by the mountains, if I don't come back one hour after that… I want you to take your classmates and run away"

Everyone was shocked to be hearing that "Wha-? Why?" was the response he got from many, though Kaede and Negi remained silent.

"Just trust me" he answered "Please, trust me and do this, otherwise, I will not be able to…" he stopped, not knowing what to say without revealing the truth.

"Not able to what?" Konoka asked with a hint of doubt, Setsuna nodded "It does seem like you are hiding something from us, you ask us if we can trust you, yet you don't seem to trust us!" she said, earning responses from the others except Negi and Kaede.

Kotaro looked away "It's not like I don't trust you, I just want to make you worry as little as possible, I wouldn't have asked you this if it wasn't necessary, I will tell you when I come back" he said and then in a whisper he mumbled "If I come back"

Once again there was an uneasy silence.

A light tapping of feet was heard as Asuna took voice "Yeah we'll do it! Though you owe us an explanation after that!" she said.

"I don't think it's up to you to decide that Asu-" Ku Fei started but stopped when Asuna gave her a Lunchbreak's-almost-over-and-I-want-to-eat-without-guilty-feelings! Look, making Ku take a few steps back.

"Thank you, everyone" Kotaro said crying out of happiness.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours had passed, evening closing in, and standing on the roof of the school-building, Kotaro looked at the scenery around him.

He sighed "I wonder if will get to see this again".

Kaede took a firm grip of his shoulder and turned him to face "Of course you will, all you have to do is come back" she said, making him frown.

"Midnight's closing in" she continued "Shall we go and prepare?"

Kotaro looked at her, an expression of melancholy and anger on his face "No" he said "You stay here, this is my fight, and you need to stay and help the others evacuate, should I fail…" the last part was barely a whisper, then he turned around and began walking towards the end of the roof, he then turned around, grinning widely "This is goodbye now!" he said in a laughter.

He then lost sight of Kaede for a second, later finding her hugging him, her hands around his head, and his pushed face into her stomach "Please come back tomorrow" she said softly.

"I'll try" he said as pushed away and walked away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kotaro once again sat on the peak of the mountain, waiting for the appearance of his brother and going through the plan in his head once again.

He smiled slightly to himself.

_Yes, that might work!_ He thought as the same old black rift opened not far from him.

He stood up, _well, time to see if it works!_

Kitakuro came out of it together with Ace and the gargantuan dog from before.

"Are you prepared, brother?" He said dully, hiding his eagerness to see if his brother had improved.

Kotaro snapped his fingers and his neck "Shut up! Let's rock!" he said cockily.

Kitakuro chuckled lightly "Eager now, aren't we?" he said in the same dull tone "but as I said before, I expect more of you this time, and as such I will fight on another level!" he said and his arms got larger, covered of black fur.

His hands reached down to his feet's, almost like enormous paws with blade-like claws.

He howled out in ecstasy and madness "Come, brother! Tonight the earth shall tremble and remember our fight!" he said madly and began laughing.

Kotaro was quick to respond, disappearing from his sight, and appearing behind his back and kicked as hard.

The kick went through him as the shadow of his clone disappeared, "WHAT!?" he said in surprise as Kitakuro came from behind.

He raised his arms and smashed Kotaro down to the ground.

Kotaro did his best to block the attack but couldn't stop the fall as the ground violently made itself reminded.

He crashed and a large crater was created.

"Ugh!" he said as got himself and wiped the blood of the corner of his mouth.

Kitakuro laughed "Don't tell me that was all!" he said.

Kotaro grinned at him, showing his canines as he got a few sizes larger, his hair got white and long, fangs sharper and longer and his hands got claws.

His smile got wider as he ripped his shirt of and got in a stance "Let's play for real this time!" and flew at Kitakuro.

He aimed a kick at the head, but found it blocked by Kitakuro who then tried to kick him but was stopped by Kotaros leg before it connected, Kitakuro, slightly annoyed over this punched Kotaro in the face.

Kotaro felt the pain throbbing through him as he did his best to stay in place, and put his hands together and smashed him down.

Not prepared and not being able to block nor avoid, the attack was taken with full force and made him fall down.

Kotaro, knowing Kitakuro had openings now that he couldn't waste so he dived after him and landed hit after hit on Kitakuro who desperately tried to block every blow Kotaro gave him.

As the ground got closer, Kotaro charged his right arm with qi and dealt the coup de crace.

A large cloud of dust was created as Kitakuro connected with the ground with a BANG.

Kotaro floated proudly over the cloud as he dusted of his shoulders. _That should have_ _done it!_ He thought.

But when the cloud slowly disappeared, a large arm flew out and grabbed him.

Out from the dust cloud came Kitakuro.

But now he looked different, 3 long tails came out from his rear, his arms and hands were now even bigger than before, and his mask had been taken off, showing a human face covered in burns showing enormous teeth's and eyes of a madman, he breathed heavily "How dare you, treat me like that? Me, the black fox?!" he shrieked, his hold of Kotaro steadily getting tighter, a few of his bones and joints snapped.

"Ggh!" was the only sound he could make as he tried best to get out of his brothers grip, but his hand was too big, too strong, there was no way out of this.

The pressure on his ribs got harder, he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. "Heh" he snorted as he smiled faintly, _at least they should be safe, out of reach for THEM, 32, no, they're 31 now, 31 of my friends lives gets to live while I die, a small sacrifice…_he thought as he closed his eyes, waiting for his demise.

A rustling of leaves was heard, making Kitakuro turn around, his grip around Kotaro got slightly lighter "WHAT!?" Kitakuro shrieked, making Kotaro open his eyes to see what had made Kitakuro react in such a way, not far away from them stood Natsumi and Chizuru looking at them with an empty look.

"Natsumi, Chizuru!?" Kotaro yelled, trying to get them react, they didn't.

_Why are they here?_ And then looked up to see Ace smiling and waving, _DAMN!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five:**

The sight of Kotaros friends made Kitakuro calm down; made him remember his mission again, his breathing became lighter, and a dark chuckle came from him.

"That was dangerous, I was only to kill you if you should prove to be really pathetic" his grip got lighter, but not enough for Kotaro to get out of it, "Oh, well, your trial isn't over, we need to continue our fight, but first…" he looked at the two girls then turned back to Kotaro, a grim and most malicious smile appeared on his burnt face.

A small giggle escaped his lips "FIRST I SHALL EXECUTE YOUR FRIENDS FOR INTRUDING UPON OUR FIGHT!" he yelled madly as he tossed away Kotaro and flew towards Natsumi and Chizuru, ready to pierce them with his large claws, he closed his eyes in order concentrate further on the beautiful sound when humans were impaled.

But no such sound came, so he opened his eyes to see Kotaro standing in front of him, his long white hair danced like flames, and behind swirled four tails, his teeth's showing as he growled.

"Wha-?" he started before he got Kotaro's fist in his jaw, Kitakuro flying back from the blow.

Before he got away too far, Kotaro grabbed his arm and then tossed him towards the trees, several of the tress broke when Kitakuro collided with them.

Kotaro was breathing hard, panting as he slowly lost control of himself and then turned towards the moonlit sky and roared out his wrath, his sorrow, letting it all come out.

He rushed towards the half-dead brother of his as Kitakuro tried miserably the get up on his feet.

Kotaro lifted him up by his throat, clenching tightly, getting coughs of blood as a response, his animal self smiled at this as he threw him up the sky.

He followed after and readied a kick, when he saw the smirk on Kitakuro's face.

"GUH!" was the only sound that came from Kotaro when he found Kitakuro's claws impale him through the stomach; blood ran from the corners of his mouth and his eyes as he slumped on Kitakuros arm.

Kitakuro let out a sigh of relief "Ace, Inukage! Come here!" he yelled at them, and they came, Ace with an expression of disappointment.

"We're returning home, open a portal for me, I'm quite tired" he said.

"What are you going to do with the boy, lord Kitakuro?" the gargantuan dog asked.

Kitakuro smiled "He succeeded his trial, we'll take him with us" he answered.

"But the boy is dead, my lord" Inukage continued.

Once again the demon-lord smiled "He is still alive, just barely though, we must heal him as soon as we come back" he said.

"And what about the girls?" Ace dropped in smirking bloodthirstily "what shall we do about his friends?"

Kitakuro put on his mask again and shook his head "He passed his test didn't he?" his voice now became the cold one they were used to.

Ace sighed, this was becoming boring, then he saw the girls, who still were under his control, his frown became a grin, a grin he was having a hard time to hide.

"Then, shall we go?" He said "Back to the dog house?" He chuckled darkly at his joke, Inukage looked irritated.

"I swear…" He growled "If it wasn't for the fact that the lords respect you, you would be dead!" this caused an outburst by Ace, he couldn't hold down his laughter.

"ENOUGH!" Kitakuro said loudly, Inukage opened a portal and they disappeared.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had passed one hour, Kaede still looked at the mountain with a concentrated look, the others didn't dare to disturb her.

After a while, Asuna took courage and laid her hand on Kaedes shoulder "It has passed an hour now, maybe we should go" she said. Kaede looked back at her smiling faintly "Just a little more, he will come soon, I know it!" she said weakly. "Kaede…" Negi started when a sudden laughter was heard from above, they all looked up to see a little boy dressed in blue floating over them.

"I'm afraid the red-head was right, cause he won't come!" he said smiling.

Keade and Negi took stances "He failed?" She asked, her voice was far from calm anymore.

Ace's smile just got wider, getting into eye-length with the Kunoichi "Sorry, but no, he passed the test, he just got unconscious, he's now at the base of the dogs!"

At those words, Kaede fell on to her knees "So he won't come back?" she asked, tears running down her face.

Ace began laughing sadistically once again "Nope, he'll never return here again!" he roared.

Then Setsuna took a step forward, looking at him coldly "In that case, why are you here?" Kaede had told her before about Kotaro's problem, seeing that she could be one of the few to really understand "If he passed, you wouldn't have a reason to be here, or are you just to gloat!?" the last words she roared, as Qi made her body glow.

Ace stopped laughing, and looked amused at the sharpness of the girl, then he smiled widely again "Well I assume you would want to rescue him? Or is it that I'm wrong?" he said, his words were more like statements than questions.

It got quiet, dead quiet, Kaede stood up and dried her eyes, as did few of the others (not really knowing why) "WHAT!?" they said in unison.

"You heard me! I'll help you rescue him!" He said smirking, this was going to be fun, he thought.

"Can we go now?" Kaede asked, drawing forth a pair of kunais.

Ace then looked at them all analytically, and sighed "No, not now, you don't have the strength to brake into the den of the dogs! First of all, get some sleep, then go train, I'll be back in two months to see if you're worthy to follow me" he said and started to turn around.

"Wait!" A voice was heard from behind, everyone turned around to see Yue and Haruna, the latter one smiling faintly.

"Yes, little one?" Ace asked.

Yue ignored his mean words, and cleared her throat "Why are you helping us?" she asked. "US?!" Asuna burst out, looking at them questioningly, which made Yue blush and Haruna smile a wide, toothy, and kind of creepy smile.

Ace laughed "My mission with the dogs are over, and I want to see how much more fun I can get out of this mess!" he said, everyone looked doubting if they could trust him, he sighed once again and took out something with the size of a telephone-book and threw it before them, a large THUD! Coming from the pile of papers "Don't you worry little ones! I am very trustworthy, just read my files! And if you don't trust me, just don't come and rescue him then! Well, I'll be going now!" he said and flew away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was around two in the morning, and someone decided to knock her door urgently, she growled as she took away the golden locks off her face and dried her nose with her arm. Who was stupid enough to knock at her door, her? The door of Evangeline's house!? At the days when she was at her weakest at that! If it wasn't for the fact that Chachamaru would stay over at Hakase's for upgrades, she would at least get some sleep by now. Whoever it is outside, she's going to pay. She then threw the door open, only to see the half of 3-A with their little teacher, many with tears in their eyes.

"Please make us stronger!" Negi pleaded.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

**Chapter 6:**

Evangeline looked at them mildly interested, a fake look of shock on her face, "Stronger, what for?" she asked.

They all looked down on the ground, unwilling to confirm what's happened a few hours ago.

Evangeline sighed "OK, I won't ask any questions! But my training has a very high price, are you willing to pay that price, no matter what I might request?" she asked smirking.

There was a silence of uncertainty, as they all looked at each other to see if they would back down, as no one stepped back, Kaede turned to the small vampire with a faint smile plastered on her face "Yes we are, de gozaru"

Evangeline giggled darkly, Ace was right on this one, she was going to have fun on this one! "Alright, come in! You probably need to sleep a bit before we talk about how we shall train you!" she then drew in the night air through her nostrils, and made a sour face "And probably a bath as well!" At that Asuna looked at Negi madly "Negi… When was the last time you bathed?!" she asked.

Negi scratched his head and laughed nervously "umm… I don't remember?" he said, more of a question than a statement.

Asuna growled, grabbing him by the scalp "Eva! Show us to the bath! I'm going to scrub away the skin of this brat!" she yelled, Eva gladly showing them the way.

After showing them the bath, she closed the door, sighing, and so it begins, she thought.

--

He woke up hearing the chirping of small birds and the sunlight sting through his eyelids, he got himself up and clutched his head "man, what a strange dream…" he whispered quietly for himself.

The door by his side opened and a tall figure covered in burns all over, dressed only in his black pants walked in "It seems that you are awake, brother" he said, smiling coldly.

Kotaro turned to his brother and returned his smile, though his was warmer "Hai, onisan!"

--

It was now around midnight in her resort and her new students slept soundly together in one of the many rooms she had.

She sneaked in soundlessly, smiling to her self, her soul, what was left of it, laughed evilly.

She sat down on the floor, and a magical circle surrounded her.

She closed her eyes and focused, this spell was quite easy for her, but now she was going to do this on multiple targets at the same time, the boy would have to give her some blood later.

Ah, well, she thought, might as well get started, magical circles now surrounded the girls and Negi, as their pure sleeping faces got twisted in to faces of pain and horror.

--

Keade stood in the middle of a thick fog, barely able to see her fingers "Hello? Where am I? Anybody there?" she called out to the nothingness.

The fog dissipated and the sight of a grassy plain was before her, all of a sudden a form dressed in the full armor of a samurai, walking determinedly to the top of a hill, on the top stood five men, not entirely unlike Kitakuro, armed to the teeth.

"We came to take the boy" the leader of the dog demons says.

The armored swordsman took away the mask, only to reveal the face of herself, the one in the armor was, without, Kaede.

"No! I'm a Ninja!" she screamed out to the nothingness, no one seemed to react.

The armored Kaede didn't say anything, she just put her hand on the hilt and in a flash the demons were cut in two.

She then turned around and walked away from where she came.

Kaede didn't have to follow but the mist showed her like a screen the movements of her alternate self.

The armored Kaede got to a nice cottage made by hand, there seemed to be no windows, just a door. She opened it as a hiss came from the darkness together with the sound of chains, something was fleeing the light that came through the door.

"Still afraid of the sun, are you?" She said as she took away her helm, her hair was even shorter than before, and the tail was now gone, it didn't look she had taken a shower the past month. A small growl was heard from the back, he seemed unable to respond with words. She lit up a few lights, making the darkness hide in the corners.

The sight that now came before her sight shocked her, a grown-up Kotaro was chained to a wall, his mouth muzzled and his hands bound together and watched by tens of large frogs.

Kotaro didn't really look like his usual self, he was, wilder, desperate to get out of his captivity, which was shown by the many scars and bite marks by his feet and wrists.

"Soon" Kaede said to him softly "Soon they will give up and will have nothing to be afraid of, soon we can be together, always"

Inarticulate sounds came from Kotaro as he tried to attack his captor, tears ran from his eyes.

The original Kaede looked a little stunned at her sight but got her calm back rather quickly "A rather frightening possibility, but I think you overdid it with the frogs Eva-san, so you can stop now!" she said calmly out to the nothingness.

The magical circle around Kaede disappeared, Eva smiled slightly, _at least one will pass this test_, she thought.

--

An army of dogs surrounded them, gritting their teeth's, some of them showed their shiny, shiny blades, some of them just made their claws glisten in the darkness, because it looked cool. The grown up Negi sighed, looking at a helpless Kotaro. "Kotaro, what happened to your love of battle?" he said tauntingly.

"Sh-shut up!" Kotaro stuttered out, his whole body was shaking "I'm shaking out of excitement, fool!" he yelled.

The grown-up Negi laughed "Hai hai! Let's just get over with this, shall we? Cantus Bellax!" he roared as he suddenly disappeared, the onslaught had begun.

Negi was plowing through the horde of dogs, Kotaro was not far behind him, but he had more trouble in his fights. It didn't take much time until the horde was finished, Kotaro laying on the ground, tired as hell, with a few wounds.

"It seems, you haven't been able to recover that well" Negi said sighing, a sour-looking Kotaro glancing angrily at him "shut, up" he said panting.

Negi got down on his knees and put his hands around Kotaros face "I won't shut up, and you still need my magic to function it seems…" he said, his face steadily coming closer.

Kotaro blushed deeply and turned away "I-Idiot! Why must you do something like this?"

Negi smiled slightly "because I'm your friend, and friends help even when they don't want help" he said before capturing Kotaros lips with his own.

Kotaro tried to fight back, but found it impossible as he opened his mouth and let Negi push his tongue inside his mouth.

The real Negi stood in the mist, watching his alternate self, stuttering like mad "I can't believe I did that to Kotaro, but as a friend I must help him, and if that is necessary, that's what I'll do!" Negi said out to the nothingness, his magical circle disappeared soon there after, a trickle of blood running down Eva's nose, _damn he's stupid!_ She thought.

--

The same procedure went on everyone, many failed, it was inevitable, and in the end only Negi, Kaede, Setsuna and Konoka was allowed to be training with Evangeline. Of course many (note: Asuna) were pissed over her actions, yet no one dared to say it loudly. And so the two months training at Evangelines resort started.

--

Kitakuro looked sternly at his brother as they got their tea served by one of the lower fox bitches (it means female dog, those of you who reacted angrily, the same to you who're laughing). Kotaro took the cup gracefully and drank it slowly and turned to the bitch "thank you, it was delicious" he said smiling, the bitch didn't know what to say or what to do, Kitakuro only gritted his teeth. "You may leave now" he growled to the bitch, she slowly got herself up and walked away.

Kotaro continued drinking his tea, he then put down his cup on the table "I had this strange dream this morning" he said smiling.

Kitakuro looked at his younger brother with surprise "Oh? Why don't you tell me about it then?"

"In it I was thrown out as a pup. Down to Purgatory" He said shaking, Purgatory wasn't a nice place.

"How horrible, surely an outrageous nightmare" Kitakuro said, trying to suppress his brother from remembering more.

"But then I succeeded to get out of there to the human world, and I worked as a mercenary there. But then I met this weak mage-boy who succeeded in beating me, and I followed him to where he worked as a teacher in order to fight him again, but instead I helped him in trouble and also befriended others, it was a rather nice dream, if you look past the beginning" Kotaro said smiling, his brother didn't look as happy.

Kitakuro stood up and walked to the door "But that didn't happen, it was just a dream! No time to dream now, get ready, we need to train."

Kotaro got him self up as well and made a fist and punched it up the air "Heh, this time I will beat you, brother!"

--

2 months had passed, and their training was fulfilled, with the help of Evangelines resort, they had managed to cram in much, and they seemed to brim with strength, the four of them stood on the roof of the school again together with Evangeline and Chachamaru, waiting for Ace to take them to the demonic world, and as they waited, the uncertainty grew "Are you sure we can trust him Kaede? He seems so cruel" Konoka said worried.

Kaede nodded darkly "Not really, I've read his file, he seems to fight for those that seems to give him the most fun, switching sides as soon as it seems to start getting boring on the one he seems to be on, but right now we do not have much of a choice, do we?" she said, it didn't really brighten their reality up.

"Don't worry" Evangeline said smiling "You have been trained by me, and in the biggest humbleness, I'm one of the most powerful entity in this, the magical and the demonic world"

Setsuna nodded "That may be so, but really, did you really have to test us in such an awful way?" she said.

Konoka looked at Setsuna questioningly "What test? I don't remember any test"

"The one with the dream?" Setsuna tried to explain to no use, she then turned towards Evangeline "You didn't test her?!" She asked upset.

Evangeline looked the other way and sighed "actually, I did… But that happy-go-lucky bastard had nothing to fear, it was no use, and since you need a healer, I let her pass…" Setsuna, Negi and Kaede looked stunned at the foolishly smiling Konoka, _that attitude of hers are dangerous…_

"And then they were only 4…" An eerie voice said from behind, they turned around but saw no one.

"You're not really quick, are you?" the voice said again, and this time they saw that Ace had arrived.

Setsuna looked sourly at him "This is no time for jokes! Take us to where they have Kotaro!" she said.

Ace was turned to Evangeline drinking tea together, served by Chachamaru, "so, dear queen of darkness, did you train them well?" he asked her.

"I did what I could with the time, I think that they now only need experience… But really, Ace, did you have to send them to me? Don't get me wrong, it was fun torturing them, but…"

Ace laughed "I didn't send them to you, I let the training to themselves, but seeing that they went to you means that they were both desperate and brave, it's a good thing. Plus, now it should really fun" he said smiling.

"You know each other?" Negi asked.

Evangeline turned to her teacher "Long time partners, but he has always been one to fight under the others, especially humans" she said.

Ace grinned "But you forget, when it comes to cruelty, humans have lots to teach us" he said, then taking out a pocket watch and looking at it "ah, seems like time to go, well, come with me, children" he said playfully as he opened a rift to the demon world and they jumped in.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

**Chapter 7:**

There was a stench of alcohol from the place, people everywhere was fighting, playing cards and the other things; this was not what you'd see in your mind when you thought of a nice place.

Negi turned to Ace "Umm… what are we doing here? Weren't we supposed to save Kotaro?" he asked.

Ace had transformed himself into the look of a young handsome man, wearing a leather jacket with a fang bearing smiley and his hair was let out, this was because he wasn't really wanted in these places, and right now he didn't want a commotion, he smiled to the child teacher "5 persons aren't enough for this job, so during these 2 months I've gotten contacts with the other clans to make an attack on the dogs, as a diversion for us, but we need some more for this, and to get the guy I want with us I need you" he said happily and went to the bartender "Do you know where I can buy apples?" he said in a rather glad tone.

The Bartender looked him over, scanned him, if you'd like, he snorted "what kind of apples?" he asked.

Ace smiled wide and grimly, for some reason the room got colder "the kind that Eva ate" he said.

The bartender made a grunt and then spat in a jar next to him, or something like that as there was a DING shortly after "Third floor, room 305" he said darkly and pointed to a staircase, Ace smiled with a friendlier notion and put a bag of coins in front of the bartender who was quick enough to hide it from his customers.

As they walked, Negi made his curiosity into words: "Umm… Ace? Who's this guy that we need?"

Ace chuckled slightly "A dog demon"

"A dog demon!?" They let out in surprise.

"He belonged to one of the most powerful of tribes, though it was put into exile by the decision of Kyobi, besides, he's part lizard demon as-well, he was made at times of 'peace'… Those old days" he said, sighing, remembering for him some good times.

Kaede continued "Why was that tribe put to exile if it was so strong? And isn't Anubis the ruler of dogs?"

Ace laughed right out at that "There was a war between the tribes, the foxes coming as the strongest and therefore made their rival tribe exiles, as the right of the winners are"

"What tribe did he belong to then?" Setsuna asked.

Ace turned around, smiling, making a dramatic gesture "FOX-HOUND!"

--

Kotaro bended over, clutching his stomach, panting hard, he tried his best to still his breathing so he could take the pain from his mind, but he was still overwhelmed by the punch.

"You need to get your speed and endurance a level, although your strength needs to be worked on something dramatically" Kitakuro said, his arm was still covered by dog-spirits swirling around in a drill-like manner.

"No matter how much my endurance gets better, I will never be able to survive from a blow like that, you weren't even close to make contact with that on me, I still felt it" Kotaro answered cockily, for some reason, facing an opponent so much more powerful than him made him happy.

Kitakuro sighed, the dog-demons from his arm disappeared "But you have been able to survive a full-contact blow with this technique of mine" he said.

Kotaro stood straight up, his eyes wide open "WHAT!?" he let out "When was that? How did I do that?"

Kitakuro smiled like a proud brother "It was when you challenged me for this duel, were we was to go all-out, or you wouldn't forgive me, after I finally used the Bane-sword (lousy name of a technique that is supposed to be an instant kill I know) you instinctively summoned dog spirits at the point of impact, the spirits took each-other out for the most part, but the rest of the impact was enough to make you unconscious for three days" he said.

Kotaro thought for a while about what he said "funny, I can't recall that at all" he said.

Kitakuros eyes twitched for a moment, but then he got his composure back "It must have been the trauma from the attack giving you a memory-loss"

Kotaro pondered "So if I should become more endurable, faster, and stronger, I will be able to defeat you. But how can I do that?" he asked.

Kitakuro smiled wide and took a stance "I think we both know the answer to that, brother"

Kotaro smiled wider and took a stance as well "Yeah"

"THE ONLY WAY IS TO FIGHT!" they said as they clashed once more.

--

Negi looked questionably on Ace "FOX-HOUND? Do they really have a tribe with fox-hounds?" he asked.

Ace smiled, they had stopped moving and stood in the middle of the staircase "Not in the beginning, then it was a collection of Elite low-level hounds that were put into experiments to make super-soldiers, they were classified later as royalties cause of the respect they earned, they then started breeding and became the most powerful freak-show in the universe and also an official tribe" he said.

"But why did Kyobi exile them?" Konoka asked.

Ace showed his fangs now when smiling "First of all, Kyobi is one of the most conservative bastards I know, hating the fact that low-breeds came their level. Second, the fox-tribe and fox-hound were rivals during the peace, as they were both specialized at sneaking missions and hidden operations. Finally, the foxes have always been up to something behind Anubis' back, and the major field of operation for fox-hound was inside the dogs, making sure no one was up something funny. In essence, exiling them meant taking away Anubis private army." He said playfully, giggling after that.

"So you mean that there is a war threatening to come between the dogs while at the same time fighting the other Demon-clans?" Kaede said calmly "Isn't that foolish?"

Ace now burst into a fit of laughter, it took a while until he could stand upright again and he dried his tears that came from laughing before he took to word again "The dogs are the most powerful of clans, with their new recruits they could easily take out all the other clans. And that civil war of the dogs is just a simple matter for Kyobi to win over Anubis in combat, given that he gets through the other tribe-leaders, but he seems to have them on their sides" he then giggled lightly "Now that I think of it, it's not really that much of a simple matter." He said.

There was an unsettling atmosphere, and the silence lasted long before Setsuna managed to speak up "So you mean that during this war the Dog-clan will achieve total dominance of the demonic world?" she asked darkly.

Ace nodded, his smile was faint now "though if it's under Anubis' rule or Kyobis is uncertain, but either way, after claiming the demon-world, the magical and old world will fall into their hands as well" he stopped smiling "little ones, you need to understand that this is much bigger than saving your mutt-friend. And while you needed physical training as well, what was necessary was to make sure you had the resolve to do this, if you can kill your enemies, for this is more than just getting him and run away, it's effectively erasing 90 of the dogs from this world, so I ask you this now, for later there is no turning back, are you willing to do this for him?" Ace said gravely, there was no smile.

They all looked at each other, true, there were hints of doubt at the beginning in their eyes but then it disappeared and Kaede opened her eyes and smiled at Ace "Kotaro is our friend, we will do what it takes to help him" she said.

Ace smiled, turned around and began walking again "good answer" he said.

--

Kotaro frowned; fighting his own bun-shin was his brother's idea of training? It was like trying to catch your own shadow, no wait, it was.

Kitakuro sat down on the side, sipping on his tea "Until you are fast enough to hit your own bun-shin, I won't let you rest!" he said as he took out a grim-looking whip, he smiled evilly.

"Damn you brother! I am no sled-dog!" Kotaro answered angrily.

Now Kitakuro smiled even wider "Sled-dog huh? Good idea, little brother"

Kotaro sighed and tried to focus on his training again, it was true that his training had effect, he had truly become stronger, faster and a better fighter than before, but sometimes the methods were a bit too much.

It was when he blocked one of his shadows kicks that he noticed a man with a wide grin, showing his fangs, his eyes were cold and sharp, staring at Kitakuro, who seemed to be looking at something else why slowly enjoying his tea.

"Brother, I think there is a man wanting a word with you" Kotaro said.

Kitakuro looked at where Kotaro pointed, it was true, there was a broad-smiling man there, he sighed, put the cup aside, got up and walked to him.

"I'm going to have a word with him, continue your training, and do it seriously, or you'll be punished!" he said smiling grimly.

"Aw man!" escaped from Kotaros lips.

They stood now behind one of the outer walls, hidden in the shadow, Kitakuro and that man that is "what do you want, Yominu?" Kitakuro asked.

The man stopped smiling, his eyes got even colder and got on himself a red mask of iron, resembling a fox face "How is he coming along?" he asked.

Kitakuro sighed and he took out his mask, the air around them suddenly got colder "He is coming along fine, Red Fox, I think he'll be ready in about 2 weeks" he said calmly in a monotone voice.

Yominu nodded "That's good to hear, then that's what I'll report to Lord 9" he said turning around and began to walk away, only to find a hand on his shoulder.

"Those two weeks are considered upon who his target will be, have Lord 9 chosen who his target is?" he stated in the same monotone manner.

Yomino turned around "Know your place, Black Fox, patience is worth much in these days" he said calmly, yet with a small hint of anger in it, the air between them got even colder.

"Unless you wish Lord 9 to wait for 2 more weeks, I suggest that I gain this information" Kitakuro said coldly.

Yominu took a deep breath "I can't promise that this will prove true, but the most likely target for Kotaro is the leader of the wolves"

"The big bad, is that so? Very well, you may leave now, Red fox" Kitakuro said coldly.

Yominu growled out of frustration but calmed down a little, reluctantly bowed and said "yes, Black fox" and disappeared.

Kitakuro took of his mask and got back.

Kitakuro got back to the training ground to find Kotaro on his fours, panting hard; when he saw his brother he smiled widely of pride "I made it! I hit him! I won over my shadow!"

Kitakuro smiled equally wide, though it gave of a nasty air around him "Show me"

**Sorry if you've waited long for this one, RL has taken much, and then it's the fact that I've been having trouble how too continue this story, I want to complete it, and I will, but it's too many ideas that I have, and then how too make the coming battles, up till now, it's only been Kotaro based ones, and Negi, Setsuna, Kaede and Konoka have trained alot, so I'm having trouble to make this show in a cool way. Any advice and suggestions would be accepted!**

**Thanks! Jarx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

After that it had been quiet while walking, but then Konoka spoke up after having thought of something.

"You know Ace, after that about this guy being a member of Fox-hound, him doing sneaking operations, and that password you said to the bartender… Please, please, in the name of all that is sacred! Don't say that his name is Snake!" She cried out.

Ace stopped and looked over his shoulder "Oh? So you've heard about him?" he said flatly.

Konoka slapped her forehead "no, it's just that all this reminds me so much of a game called Metal Gear…" she started before a "You know about Metal gear?!" came suddenly from Aces mouth.

Konoka was wide eyed "What? You mean there are bi-pedal tanks that can fire nuclear missiles?" she said surprised.

Ace looked at her like she had asked if the sky was green "Eh? What the hell are you talking about?"

Konoka let out a sigh of relief "no, nothing"

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Kotaro flew back out of the impact on his chest; he managed to land on his feet though and rubbed his chest sorely, black spirits turned into mist.

Kitakuro grinned "I see you have been able to use that barrier of yours as a reaction against all my attacks, though it's too weak to be of any real use" he said.

Kotaro slowed his breathing, to he was still panting "At least I'm making progress, unlike someone else" he said smiling.

"Are you trying to mock me Kotaro?" Kitakuro said "If that's so, then we have something more to train you in" he smiled.

For a moment, Kotaro disappeared out of sight, and Kitakuro quickly turned around to block a kick aimed for his back "you really should work on your speed as well; you haven't been able to land a hit on me yet"

Kotaro fell down to his knees "It's not because I really lack in speed, it's because you are taller and have a wider reach than me!" he claimed.

Kitakuro smiled "So you mean that if you were as tall as me, you would be equal to me?"

Kotaro returned the smile "exactly"

"Alright, then you have my permission" Kitakuro said.

"What?"

"You have my permission to become as tall as me"

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They stood before the door to room 304, it was the only one that gave of an eerie feeling, but Ace just opened the door with a "good evening everybody!" but found that there was no one there, just a magical circle in the middle of the room, it was large enough for 7 human-like creatures to fit in it.

Ace dropped the glamour and returned to his child-like state, he thought someone let out a sigh when he did, in that state he was very handsome, after all, as well as someone let out a squeal of enjoyment, but took no notice and went into the magic circle.

He turned around and looked at them "What are you waiting for, jump in, it won't bite!" he said playfully "much".

Negi took a step in it with doubts, like you dip your toes in the water to see if it's cold, then they all jumped in.

Ace smiled and then closed his eyes "We fight for those who fight in the name of our fathers, guns to the patriots, chained under the shadow of Moses, sons that seeks true freedom all in vain" Ace said darkly, then he took a deep breath and let out a loud "SONS OF LIBERTY!", the magic circle shined brightly and for just a moment, the world seemed to collapse.

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"Become as tall as you?" Kotaro asked loudly "just what the hell do you mean with that!?"

Kitakuro laughed "really! You haven't learned how to transform yourself, oh this is too much!" he bent himself over gasping for air in between his fits of laughter.

Kotaro turned around and crossed his arms "Shut up! Sorry for being an idiot!" he was angry at him now, Kitakuro could tell, maybe he went a bit too far with his act.

He calmed down "sorry, transformation is one of the techniques that follows with the fox-blood, it is because of this that we are superior in stealth-missions, but it's also a great advantage in combat, as you can change your size and therefore your weight, reach, and such, though there is a limit to how much you can alter your appearance." He said smiling, he was still giggling after having said that.

Kotaros eyes got wider, sparkling like ten-thousand diamonds "really! You can do that!?" he let out.

"Yes, I'm sure you have used it unconsciously some-times, when thinking that if you only your arms were a bit longer, you could hit an opponent, it's all about visualization" Kitakuro said with eyes closed, he was into his teacher-mode now.

Kotaro scratched his chin knowingly "visualization, huh?" he smiled widely "I see" then he closed his eyes, pictured in his mind how he would look if he were taller, what he would look like as a 17-year old man, he then felt something, the ground shook a little, he got urges he didn't have before, he became more aware of his surroundings, he felt strong, he felt great, he couldn't stop himself from blushing, he opened his eyes and looked at Kitakuro, he opened his mouth, but instead of his usual voice a dark and powerful voice came out "let's rock" he said smiling.

Kitakuro smiled even wider, trembling from excitement, he could feel the power that came from him, _no way! His power got raised by this as well? What will happen when he really goes all-out?_ He thought to himself, but then he calmed down, snorted as if it was nothing "If you are ready, then come and get some!"

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They arrived at a cave, it was damp and dark at the least, the ground was rocky "Are you sure this is the place?" Konoka asked "doesn't look much like a home".

Ace laughed a little "truly, Snake has no style at all when it comes to things like furnishing and clothing, but this is actually a bit too bad, even for him" then he pretended a sigh "ah, well, let's continue" he said and took a step forward.

There was a loud K-TCHICK!

"Freeze" a low growling voice said.

All of them did as he said, while the rest was frightened, thinking things like how he could have gotten behind them and how come they couldn't feel his presence, Ace just grinned like the Cheshire cat.

A figure came in the corner of their eyes, circling them, though there was no sound of footsteps, there was something ghostly about him, the figure grunted "Ace, huh?" it sighed "I should have known"

Ace turned around to face the figure hid in the shadows "Well, I don't think you needed to ask us to freeze, we were doing that pretty good by ourselves, seriously, haven't you heard of heaters?" he said.

The figure lowered his weapons aim to Ace's head "Leave, I have retired" he growled.

"A dog of war doesn't retire and you know that, you love the battle too much" Ace said.

"No! That is not true!" He growled.

"Even if it isn't, you know as well as I do that there are some things that cannot be left undone, and there are times you got to stand up to your past" Ace said seriously.

A small TIK! Came from the figure, it lowered its weapon and stepped out of the shade, a tall man, dressed in tight-fitting grey clothes of a synthesis texture, he was handsome, though rugged and scarred on the face, his hair was not washed and was forced back by a bandana, the only thing that didn't look human was his dog-ears and the lizard-like eyes of his "I'm tired of fighting, tired of running, tired of seeing my comrades die whenever I close my eyes, one last mission will only make this worse, maybe I should just fade away" he said sadly in a growling manner.

Ace turned away "Fine, I see that you really are worthless nowadays. Then I guess we'll just give up on saving your friend, girls. We might just do well enough to lessen the dogs' number to make the humans in the old world stand a chance" he said and walked slowly "Lets go"

Snake turned around to walk into the deeper parts of his cave when a hand grabbed his, he responded quickly by drawing a knife with his free hand, spinning and putting the blade to the oppressors throat, only to see a wide eyed Kaede.

Snake backed away "sorry", Kaede just smiled "It's fine, though it seems that you still have the fight in you, a will to live" he sheathed his knife quickly, her smile just became more wider "you don't have to be embarrassed by it, rather use it, you say that you are tired of running, then stop those hunting you, and please help us, we really want to save Kotaro".

"I am afraid it's not that easy, so your friends name is Kotaro, why does he need to be rescued?"

"Because he was taken by his brother to the foxes in order to be used for the oncoming war"

Then Negi jumped in "We really miss him and fear for his life, we really need your help for this!"

"Was he taken against his will?" Snake asked.

"We think so" Setsuna replied, Snake sighed "If you don't know if you're helping him or not, why should I even think about joining you?" he said and began walking.

Then an eerie laughter broke the silence, it came from Konoka "It seems that we can't talk you into it" Snake turned around "that's right" he replied, this made her smile only wider "then we'll have to use other ways" she said and took of her shirt, walking slowly towards Snake who began to step back.

"FINE! FINE! I GET IT! I'LL HELP YOU! PUT THAT SHIRT ON AGAIN!" he said and turned around so he couldn't see her, Konoka gave the others the thumbs up smiling.

"I think Ace has a bad influence on us de gozaru" Kaede whispered to Negi, who nodded slowly.

"But that Kotaro guy really seems to have good friends, alright, let's go, your friend the vampire is waiting"

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The demons encircled them, they got more by the second, and their defenses got tighter, and their targets all stood there in their stances, hair flowing in the wind.

"*sigh* this is becoming quite a nuisance" a dull voice broke the-if it wasn't for their oppressors laughing- silence, she had thick ponytails "where is their weak link?" she said in a harsh tone, making one of her comrades stutter, she was reading a book "a- um- it's the big guy in front of you" her voice was in a high-pitched way, shy and nervous.

A cling of bells was heard as another pigtailed girl stepped forward, she was much taller and bustier "YOSH! Then let me take care of this!" she said with confidence, there was a glow in her fists and…

BOOM!

Two large beams came out of her fists, blowing, no, pulverizing away 3 fourths of the demons.

A short curvy girl with her hair tied up in two… well, things, this narrator is not good with describing hair, she turned to the vanquisher of the demons "Aww Asuna! You should have left some more for me!" she let out angrily.

The girl called Asuna patted her shoulder "Then take rest, Ku Fei, I'll cheer on you" she said.

Ku Fei sparkled with excitement "really!?" she asked, receiving a nod as an answer, then she disappeared from sight.

And so started the screams of anguish from the demons, some of them asking to be saved, they got no such luck.

The one with the thick ponytails sighed once again "Sometimes I wonder who is the real demons" she said and turned to the one with the book "Right, Nodoka?"

Nodoka let out a quick yes and then Ku Fei returned, humming happily "well that was fun!" she said.

"But that's not what we're here for" Asuna said easily and turned to Yue and Nodoka "Do you know their position?" She asked.

Yue nodded "We will get there in 2 days" she said.

Asuna smiled "Good, then lets meet up Negi and the others and then go save Kotaro!" she let out loudly, pumping her fist in her air.


End file.
